REPUBLICAN MOTHERHOOD VS CULT OF DOMESTICITY
Lectures: Key Ideas on Women and Antebellum Reform
Lecture 1: Major 19th Century Ideas on Women
1. “Republican Motherhood” (a term coined by the historian Linda Kerber)
i. Ideal of self-government and service for women who otherwise had not public role
ii. Women should take republican ideals (freedom, virtue, public morals, citizenship) and instill them in their
children (primarily sons) so that these children can grow up to be good citizens
iii. Educated women were socially acceptable if they used that education in their family’s service.
iv. Lower and working class women were expected to inculcate societal norms into their children so they
might be productive members of society, but there was no expectation that these women would produce
future leaders (political or economic).
v. This ideal positioned the home and private life as the proper sphere of women, but it also encouraged some
political knowledge and education among women.
1. It created the widespread belief that women were guardians of morality, an idea utilized by the
early women’s movement to justify an increasing public role for women (helping to create a more
moral society).
2. It will be these women who become the political/activist base of the women’s movement.
b. Republican Motherhood develops into the “domestic ideal” (away from Rep. Moth. To Cult of Domesticity)
i. During the antebellum period, women’s activities centered on home and family
ii. Women had a “separate sphere” – a home that is a “haven in a heartless world”
1. Woman is the moral/emotional centerpiece
2. Husband can forget the trials of the outside world when inside the home
3. Kids come there from school
4. Woman is the “angel” who doesn’t mention the world or discuss negative things: she is pretty, nice
and considerate
iii. Men are responsible for the income and family decisions.
1. They operate in public (including political) sphere, while women remain in the private sphere of the
home.
c. Women’s “advice” literature
i. Catherine Beecher’s Treatise on Domestic Economy (1841) becomes a bestseller
ii. Much literature was designed to allow women to run homes as efficiently as their husband’s office.
1. Beecher included diagrams of how to arrange a kitchen.
2. Authors glorified homemaking, motherhood, and the female role in marriage.
3. However, this literature can also be viewed as awakening women to the notion that they are capable
of handling responsibilities similar to those of their husbands.
iii. This Literature was geared toward middle-class, white women. Again, this group will be part of the
foundation of the early women’s movement.
d. Catherine Beecher advocates for the education of girls
i. Beecher argues that it is scandalous for middle-class women to work in factories or as domestic servants, as
this lessens their ability to inculcate republican values into their children.
1. She proposes converting teaching into a female profession.
a. Her Argument – Women are natural nurturers
b. Employers don’t have to pay women as much (no families to support)
c. Women can be teachers until married.
d. This allows currently childless middle-class women to be surrogate republican mothers.
Lecture 2: Women’s Political Activism in the Antebellum Period
1. There are broad types of antebellum reform activism:
a. Moral Reform (ending prostitution, the sexual double standard)
b. Temperance (alcoholism – threat to family and home – 1830 highest level of alcohol intake in US history)
c. Antislavery
d. Women’s Rights
i. Women, primarily middle-class women from the Northeast (who have increased amounts of time to devote
to public activities), will solve the dilemma of getting out of their domain/sphere (the home) by viewing the
world as a home, in which women can exercise their maternal abilities without being condemned by
society.
ii. It was okay for women to help others improve their lives. Reform-minded women will argue that the
natural role of women is to inculcate proper values, so by becoming active in public life they are serving
the same role as they have in the home.